When he parked at the house two doors up, he could hear Thor barking. The dog always recognized the sound of Adam’s vehicle and welcomed him home. Adam gathered up his things, including the mixed bouquet of flowers, and strode into the house. He realized the air must be nearly out of his balloon because all of a sudden he felt drained, ready to sit down with a glass of iced tea and do absolutely nothing.
Other than to talk with Gillian when she returned. That idea put a smile on his face. “Sit, Thor.” He placed the flowers in the sink and looked around for the dog. Oh, he was still sitting. “Good dog, Thor, come here. I’m sorry.” He bent over to get his ear sniffed and snuffled, then rubbed his dog’s ears and head. “Such a good dog you are. Where’s Grandpa?”
Thor immediately went to the open screen door. Adam followed him, and sure enough there was his father out there with his babies, all the plants he started either with seeds or by cuttings. Years earlier, Alice had named them Bill’s babies. Adam slid the door open and stepped out, Thor right on his heels. “I thought you were taking it easy today.”
“I am. Just walking around out here, looking at things. Haven’t dug anything up or moved anything or even watered anything. Just looking isn’t doing anything.”
“Are you walking?”
“Yes.”
“I rest my case.” Adam ambled out to join his father. “Did the doctor call?”
“Nope. He said tomorrow.” Bill settled into a chair he kept out there between his planting beds. “Sit down, you make me nervous.”
“Did you call Jennifer?” Adam sat down on a brick step that divided the two levels on the slope. Thor came over and sat beside him, his head right where Adam’s hands were.
“I did. She’s bringing dinner tonight.”
“Wonderful.”
“She gave me a lecture on taking it easy, too. Did you put her up to that?”
“Nope. I stopped down at Dorothy’s with some flowers, but no one was home.”
“Oh, I’m sure she was home, just sleeping. I do hope that daughter of hers can get her up and living again. Can’t believe she figures she’s dying. Last person I would have expected that from.”
“Gillian is nothing if not determined.”
“Something going on there?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I got me a feeling you have a powerful interest in the woman.”
“She’s not ‘the woman.’ Her name is Gillian.”
“Well, do you?”
“Do I what?” How did he figure this out already?
“Have an interest in her?”
Adam pushed out a heavy breath. “Yeah, Dad, I guess I do.”
His dad leaned forward and thumped him on the shoulder. “Well, it’s about time.”
Thor leaped to his feet and yipped, heading for the closed screen door. “Thor, halt.” The dog skidded to a stop before flailing through the screen door and turning it into shreds. “I’m coming. Jen must be here with the dinner. Was she bringing the kids?”
“No idea. Maybe we could eat out here at the patio table.”
“I’ll see.” Adam went through the kitchen and living room to the front door, getting there just as the bell rang again. “I’m here. Thor, sit.” He opened the door to find his sister-in-law standing on the step with a wooden basket in each hand. He held the door open. “Sorry, we were out in the back.”
“He couldn’t stay inside any longer, eh?” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Been too long since we’ve seen you.”
“I agree. Here, let me take those.”
She handed him her baskets and slung her purse off her shoulder to set by the entry to the kitchen. “How is he?”
“Seems fine to me. Perhaps that was a singular episode.” He pulled back the folded dish towel. “Mmm, looks good.”
“Enchiladas, refried beans with cheese, and an apple crisp for dessert. I hope you have sour cream. I brought salsa I made from tomatoes, homegrown at that, and guacamole. Oh, and tortilla chips.”
“Smells as good as it looks. Where are the kids?”
“Soccer and homework. Lissa Marie is picking Lawrence up. I left the same thing at home for them.” She went outside to greet Bill.
Adam watched her go. Tall, slim with shoulder-length sun-bleached blond hair, she carried herself like the model she’d dabbled as for a time. White capri pants and a red and white striped T-shirt. She always looked like she’d just stepped off the page, no matter what she wore.
He pulled plates and silverware out of the cupboards, digging out cloth napkins for a change. “Had I known what you were bringing, I would have made sangria.” He raised his voice so she could hear.
“That’s okay, I’m driving. Put the enchiladas in the oven at three hundred while we eat our chips and dips.”
He did as she told him, finding a basket for the chips and bowls for the dips, whipping up the sour cream before filling the bowl. He took the lids off the salsa and guacamole and dug into the latter with a triangular tortilla. “Umm.” Jen made the best guacamole anywhere. He put the beans and the enchiladas on two racks in the oven and carried the hors d’oeuvres outside. “Come on over to the table. Jen, you’re getting stains all over the back of your pants.”
“Oh, well.” She brushed her rear off. “I have a good prewash spray.”
The three of them sat in the dusk green–padded chairs at the table, each digging a chip into the bowls.
“What can I get you to drink?” Adam asked.
“You have any of that green tea I had here before?”
Adam nodded. “At your service. Dad?”
“Nothing right now.”
Was he looking a bit gray around the eyes again? Adam studied his father. Was he breathing harder?
Bill glared at his son. “Go get the drinks and quit looking at me like I’m some sort of strange specimen. I’m fine. If I weren’t I would tell you.”
Jennifer’s laugh tinkled like wind chimes. “Get real, Papa. You’ve not been feeling good for a long time, and you never said a word. You just think we were too stupid to notice.”
“No, never stupid.” He laid his hand over hers. “Just don’t want to worry anyone.” Thor nudged his arm with a black nose. “All right, one chip and that’s all.”
“Dad, he’s not supposed to beg at the table.”
“He’s not begging, I offered.”
Adam set the bottles down along with glasses of ice. “Well, should we say grace now that we’ve all tried the food?” They joined hands and Bill said the simple grace he’d taught his boys almost before they could talk. “God is great, God is good…”
Grace said, they started eating.
“So, Adam, what’s new in your life?” Jen asked.
Adam started. “Ah…”
“Adam is interested in a woman,” Bill said.
“Dad, what a way to put it.” Adam stared at the twinkle in his sister-in-law’s eyes. “Her name is Gillian Ormsby. She’s here to take care of her mother, two doors down.”
“You mean Dorothy? What’s wrong with her?” She looked toward Bill. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Of course Jen knew Dorothy. All the years the families had shared meals and celebrations. After all, Dorothy and Alice had been such good friends.
“She thinks she’s dying.” Bill took another chip and crunched it.
“That’s no joke.”
“No, not usually, but she’s not. She just thinks she is.”
Adam leaned back and watched Jen’s face. Introducing her to Gillian would be a good thing. Shame he’d not been able to bring Gillian home with him. If she wasn’t back by now, surely…, possibly…, something had happened to her.
Chapter Nineteen
Oh, no!” Gillian stomped on her brakes, strangling the steering wheel.
The impact slammed her back and then jerked her forward.
A second impact came from behind, the cars screaming like wounded animals. The sounds of crashing seemed to l
ast forever. Mother’s car. I’ve wrecked Mother’s car. Gillian sat without moving, waiting for her heart to slow down. She moved arms, legs, neck, and shoulders. Everything worked. No blood anywhere. But then she’d been almost stopped before the impact.
Someone tapped on the window. She looked out to see a man standing there and rolled down the window. “Are you all right, ma’am?”
She nodded. “I think so. Just yanked around a bit.”
“Good. Sit tight. The police will be here any minute.”
“What about the other people?”
“I don’t know. I’m right behind you and someone else is behind me. You’re safer if you stay in your car.”
Gillian nodded. But it’s not my car. It’s my mother’s car, and she’s never in all these years put a ding in it. What am I going to do? She heard the sirens and saw flashing lights in her rearview mirror. Even if she called her mother, no one would answer. What to do? She rolled her head around, stretching neck and shoulders. All she needed at this point was whiplash.
Another police cruiser pulled up, followed by an ambulance that passed her and stopped several cars ahead of her. So was someone really injured or was this a precaution? Okay, what did she need to do? She checked behind the visor for an insurance card. None there. So she unsnapped her seat belt and leaned across the seat to flip open the glove box. Sure enough, the insurance card sat right on top of the car’s instruction manual.
She saw an officer talking to the people in the car ahead of her, then he nodded and walked back to her car, stopping to check the license plate and jotting down the number. Gillian rolled the window down again. Good it was electric because now her hands were shaking so severely she couldn’t have grasped a turning handle.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” The concern in his voice brought immediate tears.
“I was until just a minute ago, when I started to shake.”
“Good, that is perfectly normal. No blood or pain anywhere?”
“No, sir.” Funny saying sir to a man far younger than she.
“Can I see your license, registration, and insurance card?”
She handed them to him. “How many cars are involved?”
“Five. Good thing everyone was going so slowly.” He looked up from the cards. “This vehicle belongs to Dorothy Ormsby?”
“Yes, she’s my mother and she’s never gotten a dent in it. Prides herself on her driving, and here I have it one time and look what happened.”
“Sorry.” He walked back to the front of her car and then to the rear, then back to the window. “I think you’ll still be able to drive your car. The bumpers did their jobs and this is a heavy vehicle. We’ll let you know when you can try.” He handed her back her cards. “You’ll need to contact your insurance company and file a claim.”
Things I’ve never done in my life. Who do I ask? Enzio would know, but so would Adam. She glanced at the clock and dialed his cell phone. He should be home from work by now.
“Gillian?”
At the sound of his voice she burst into tears.
“Gillian, are you all right? What’s wrong?”
“A-an ac-ci-dent.” She stuttered through the tears. “I—I’m not—hurt.” She sniffed and cried some more. “H-high-way six eighty near P-pleasant Hi-ll.”
“What are you driving?”
“M-mother’s c-car.” The sobs intensified.
“Oh, no. But you’re not hurt?”
“No. Wait.” She laid the phone down so she could blow her nose. Now that she’d cried, she heaved a deep breath, mopped her eyes, and picked up her phone. “Five cars. Slow traffic so the damage is not extensive. An ambulance is here, but I don’t know if anyone needs it. There is another car behind me.”
“So you not only got rear-ended but damaged the front, too?”
“Yes.”
“Well, at least you won’t be deemed responsible. I’ll come and get you and order a tow truck.”
“No, the officer looked at it and said he thinks it’s drivable. I have to wait until he comes back to tell me when. Sorry I turned into a blubbering mess.” Glancing in the mirror on her visor she shook her head. Now she looked like a raccoon.
“No problem. Shock does that to you. So, how can I help?”
“You already did. If it can’t be driven, I will call you back, okay?”
“Do you want me to call your mother?”
“No, her bedroom phone is turned off. Enzio was there for a while but I’m sure he’s gone home by now.”
“His car was gone when I came home. I knocked on the door, but no answer.”
“How am I going to tell her I wrecked her car? She never lets anyone drive her car and she did me, and now this.”
“Let’s find out how bad the damage is first. We can take it down to the auto repair in the morning.”
He had no idea how good the “we” sounded right now. She was not alone in this; she had a friend who would help. She dug out a clean tissue from her purse and scrubbed at the mascara line down her cheek and the smears under both eyes.
The police officer was back. “Go ahead and start it up, see if any warning lights come on.”
When she glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw that the car behind her was already gone. She turned the key and the engine purred like usual.
He handed her his business card. “Good. I want you to back up and test the brakes. Then you can swing out and across the lanes to where there is no glass and continue on. I suggest you head on home since you could be a bit shocky still.”
She did as he told her.
“That front bumper seems secure enough. Be grateful you weren’t in a little car like the one two ahead of you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Somewhat different here than in New York City, right?”
She nodded and pulled out around the car in front of her. The ambulance was gone and a wrecker was getting ready to tow the first car. How am I going to tell Mother? The thought made her stomach churn worse than the accident had. Had there been some way she could have avoided it? Was this due to her lack of driving experience? The questions bombarded her as she turned onto Pleasant Hill Road and followed it up the hill to a right on Morello Avenue. Morello led to home and what she would do. Her cell rang and she fumbled to get it. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” Adam’s voice filled the car.
“On Morello heading north.”
“How is the car doing?”
“Like the officer said, it drives fine but I can hear some rattles.”
“Most likely the damaged bumpers. You’ll have to go fill out accident forms and call your insurance agent in the morning. Why don’t I meet you at your house and look at it and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you. I hate to impose like this.”
“Impose? This is the kind of thing that friends are for.”
“But if you have plans for tonight…”
“We’ve finished dinner; Jen is here and she said to tell you hi. She’ll probably come with me to look at it. She used to work as an insurance adjuster.”
“Thank you. I’m coming under the freeway.”
“Okay, see you in a few.”
She saw him waiting on the sidewalk when she was halfway up the hill. A streetlight spotlighted both him and the attractive woman standing beside him. She’d heard of Jennifer from her mother, who had attended family events with Alice and the rest of the Bentleys. No one had ever mentioned how striking Jennifer was. The couple looked like two of the hoi polloi out for a stroll. They should have been in Hollywood rather than small-town Martinez.
Adam opened her car door and Gillian swung her legs out to stand, but she decided to wait a moment for the quivering to stop.
“You need a hand?” Adam asked.
Jennifer joined him. “Still shaking?”
“Some.” Gillian rolled her head around on her shoulders and stretched first one side, then the other.
“Whiplash?” Je
nnifer asked.
“I don’t think so. I was nearly stopped before the collision. And the bump from behind wasn’t bad.” She glanced up. “You are Jennifer, right?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Adam apologized and officially introduced them. “Are you ready to stand?” He held out a hand.
Gillian took his hand and let him pull her up, ducking to miss banging her head on the doorjamb. “Thanks.” She stood still a moment more and then took one step, followed by another. She wasn’t dizzy and the quivering had pretty much disappeared.
Adam stayed by her side, but Jennifer took the heavy flashlight and checked out both bumpers. “They’ll have to be replaced, but I don’t see any other damage. Oh, wait, there’s a dent here.” She pointed to the driver’s side, front.
Gillian stared at the damage, reminding herself that it could have been so much worse.
“Those bumpers did exactly as they are supposed to, protect the car and driver. Replacing them is no big deal. A couple hours’ work. They can smooth out that dent so you’ll never know it was there.” Jennifer smiled at Gillian, reassurance in every look and word.
“Really?” Gillian sniffed back the tears that threatened, tears of relief this time. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Mother.”
“Do you have to, right now I mean?” Adam asked.
“Well I…”
“You can take it in for the estimate tomorrow. They’ll give you the information. I’ll give you the name of a repair shop and tell them you’re coming. They’re honorable and work fast. You can rent a car for overnight or so and go pick it up when it’s finished.”
“Don’t I have to wait for all the claims and such?”
“No, for this limited damage, you can go ahead, but be sure to notify the insurance company. You’ll have to pay the deductible. Your insurance company will go after those deemed responsible. If you can show Dorothy that all is well, that will make it easier, I think.”
On Hummingbird Wings Page 16